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Externships: the Pierce Law advantage

While most law schools with IP programs offer some type of externship opportunity, Pierce Law, based on a comparative analysis, offers a top experience from both qualitative and quantitative perspectives. This program provides second and third year law students with an opportunity to:

• Develop proficiency in certain IP professional skills and judgment
• Reflect about the practice of IP law and the individual student's place in it
• Develop a proficiency in a specialized area of IP practice.

“In my 2L externship at DEKA, I collaborated with some of the world's most brilliant inventors creating cutting-edge technologies. It was legal work usually reserved for third-year associates.”
— Extern, Alberto Interian

Extern Michael Wesolowski ‘02 (lt.) and Anthony Colesanti ‘97 at Duane, Morris & Heckscher LLP in Philadelphia, PA.

Here are some of these comparative factors that are part of the Pierce Law advantage:

• Pierce Law offers one of the few full time IP externship programs in the country
  • The program emphasizes meeting both educational and career goals
  • The program is of the few in the country that offers IP externships for twelve (12) credits
• Pierce Law offers IP externships in the private sector such as law firms and corporations, while some IP programs only allow externship at not for profit employers
• Pierce Law has a full time externship coordinator and staff that work continuously to insure that the focus of the externship is on education and experience and not mere productivity
• Pierce Law's externship director extensively counsels candidates and almost 100% of students get the type of externship they are seeking.
• Pierce Law offers IP externships in most major cities in the U.S. as well as foreign countries, greatly enhanced by our foreign base of over one thousand alums
• Pierce Law has a robust program that for many years has placed students involved in all types of IP
• Pierce Law has a diverse program placing students in law firm, corporations, U.S. Federal courts and NGO's - from the Legal Department at Calvin Klein to the chambers of the justices at the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.

IP externships are one prime way that hundreds of Pierce IP students have gained experience that has led to lucrative and fulfilling careers. Students uniformly report the benefits of externships as a “capstone experience” putting to use the work done at Pierce Law in settings with the real life demands of supervisors and clients. IP externships make Pierce a leader in providing the world with well trained, educated and experienced IP professionals.

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This graph presents data that illustrates that Pierce Law is able to offer students externships on a sustained basis in all areas of intellectual property areas of practice.

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This graph presents data that illustrates that Pierce Law is able to offer students externships on a sustained basis in the most powerful IP practice settings.